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Paul Orude Bauchi
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed has branded the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara who recently decamped to the All Progressives Congress as a liar for accusing his administration of contract inflation and bad governance.
Governor Mohammed who addressed hundreds of supporters from Bogoro, Dass and Tafawa Balewa, explained that Dogara is in fact the one that inflated projects he is executing in his Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency.
Recalled that Dogara in a letter addressed to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Ward Chairman in Bogoro C of Bogoro Local government area of the state had alleged that the Governor Bala Mohammed PDP led administration was corrupt and reneged on many promises made during the campaign in 2019 that was why he returned to the APC.
“Those lies he said about me, was it not Dogara that brought the road project from his pocket from Bogoro-Dull-Burga at N17 billion and it has not been completed and it is just 45 kilometers. But I am constructing a road from Burga-Yelwan Duguri, a 56 kilometer project at N9 billion, who inflated contracts? And the project will soon be completed.
“The road projects we did in Azare, Akuyam, Sabon Kaura, Gombe road and even the ones that we didn’t start, we have all finished them. Where is the truth that you (Dogara) gave 50 percent mobilisation and the person has said he has completed the project 100 percent so what is his problem?”
“He is just talking because if you see a dog running, it is either it is running to get something or something is chasing it. We pity him because he has become an epidemic in politics but we, in our capacity as brothers, especially we the elders, he has become a disgrace. We only depend on God, you (Dogara) are nobody, imagine now that God made me your governor, should I now disrespect you?”
The governor in a press release signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, said further
“When Hon. Dogara claims that the state is not observing extant rules in the award of contracts, we ask, which extant rules: The established Government Extant Rules or Dogara Personal Rules?
We can say, without any fear of contradiction, that award of contracts, in the state, has followed due process. In fact, rather than inflate, one cardinal principle of this Administration has been to ensure judicious application of resources through cost reduction without mortgaging quality of work done. “That was why, very early in the life of this Administration, we engaged Engr. Emeka Ezeh, aka “Mr. Due Process”, a man whose antecedents are well known to Hon. Dogara, to create for the state, a pricing index within global best practices. Today all our projects are subjected to Basic Engineering Management and Evaluation (BEME), the global standard for evaluation of contracts, not arbitrariness. The result is that, because of intense negotiation with the contractors, most of our projects costs have been reduced drastically, sometimes by as much as 30%. One such project is the Awallah to Miri Road that was awarded by the immediate past Administration at the cost of N10 billion. Based on negotiation, the contractors have accepted a reduction from the initial N10 billion, to N7 billion, to complete the project. That is a saving of N3 billion on only one project. Another current project of interest is the 60 km road between Burga and Yelwan Duguri which cost was negotiated down to N8 billion from the initial N15 billion quoted by the contractor. The project has four major bridges, 48 box culverts and 60 pipe culverts. The public should compare the above project with the 45km road from Bogoro to Dull-Burga, awarded at the instance of Dogara when he was Speaker, as part of his constituency project, to the same contractor for the sum of N17 billion! Those who care to scrutinize our records will come to the inescapable conclusion that Hon. Dogara has elevated political mischief to the level of an art.
Contrary to Hon. Dogara’s claim, the Bauchi State Government did not break any rules by paying mobilisation fees to contractors. It is normal for contractors to be given mobilisation which can be recovered in the life of the contract. The Government followed global best practices, by insisting that the contractors provide advance payment guarantee (APG) certificates based on which mobilisation was given to them. Fortunately, except for the Burga-Yelwa-Duguri Road which has attained 60% completion, all the contracts for which 50% mobilisation was advanced, were completed within a year of the Administration and the public was not short changed, in any way. Rather, the Advance Payment has spurred the contractors to perform optimally with maximum delivery. So, we are hard pressed to understand what Dogara is complaining about”
